What is the Church?

It's taken years for me to write this post.  I have been in the middle of church strife, and on the fringe of it, and I've grown up in the church.  Most of my childhood church life was one way, traditional.  One day my idea of what church was...was changed.  It was the day I walked through the doors of LifeChurch.tv  -Stillwater campus.  That day I knew I was home.

How did I know that this was my church?  Because the moment I stepped foot in the door, I was was greeted and was received like a part of a family.  I was a stranger but that didn't matter.  I was welcomed.  I know what that feels like be on the outside looking in.  It was a warm engaging feeling of belonging.  It was fellowship.  It was home and I belonged there.  

Since then...every Sunday Kingdom builders are born there.  I belong.

The idea of us being Kingdom builders is not new, it's the philosophy that built the New Testament church.  Mark 1 states... "Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 'The time has come,' he said. "The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!"  Jesus modeled the gospel by making the claim..."I am your King."  

Next verse..."As Jesus walked..."  

Jesus took the gospel outside the tent meetings and the tabernacle and took it to the community of fisherman and tax collectors, the downcast, the oppressed, the rich, the poor.  He built the New Testament church with a devoted twelve.  He loved them enough to share the good news of salvation.  He gave of Himself because the beach front community needed to know.  They were crying out out for a Savior.  They needed Jesus and Jesus took the church to them.

Jesus is the Church and if we have Jesus Christ in our hearts, then we are the church.  We are kingdom builders of Jesus' church.  My church view has changed over the years about who and what the church is.  Church is a community that comes from fellowship with God and with other believers.  And that's what the fellowship of believers, making a community of truth based like minded believers looks like.  I realize that I am just one in the sea of believers, but we are all the church, inside and outside those building walls.  The actual community in which we live is crying out to be saved.  So we must, as the Great Commission states, go!  We must be the church that people are needing.  Our neighborhoods needs a Savior.

"Church arise...shake yourself from the dust....God is calling us to go!" Leeland

Will you be the one to tell them?

P.S. Mitch Hildebrant...this post was for you!

Choose Your Own Adventure

I have been doing somethings for the first time...and it seems that I have crammed a lot into this year so far.

As the clock tick tocks...I still have a few things on my "firsts" list BUT I have scratched these off...I have seen at least 5 different waterfalls as I have visited different states.  I love waterfalls.  

Traveling to South Dakota with friends to attend LifeLight.  An awesome experience in the middle of a 200-acre cornfield with a bajillion bands...for free.  I saw my all-time favorite artist in concert...Leeland.  They can sing about garbage and it would be lovely.  I saw some new bands like One Sonic Society and Kari Jobe.  But have seen some others bring their awesomeness to the stage like Skillet, Leeland, and Remedy Drive.  David of Remedy Drive got a haircut and I almost didn't recognize him.  Watch out!

I have danced on stage with Mandisa and I never thought that would actually happen.  I always  imagined myself flat on my face.  That would have been embarrassing for sure.  And I am here to tell you that I survived.  Honestly, I am about as coordinated as a two-legged cow.

I have spent some time perfecting my mini-golf craft and kept a golf journal for each game.  It was a special time with girlfriends.  So is riding 10 hours in a borrowed van.  That time was spent either strengthening friendships or breaking them.  Riding an emu will do the same thing.  I'll let you guess what happened.

I have eaten some different foods like asparagus, gyros, plantains, funnel cakes, fried pies, Palisade peaches, and dark chocolate M & M's.  And there lies the beginnings of a new season of posts coming here...

With reckless abandon I have made more time with God, and have learned so much that when I think of it..it sends both chills up my spine and tears down my cheeks.  Each day I find His mercy.  Each day His grace is made perfect in my weakness.

The most adventurous season of my life is the one where my faith is growing.  it's an adventure of my choosing, one that requires me to guard my heart.  One that I have buckled myself in for the long-haul.  There is no "tuck-and-roll" plan when I get to Nebraska.  I am clinging to Jesus with my whole heart.

I am trying to make the most of every moment, not saving the best for later.

Choosing life in so many ways!  What has been your favorite adventure so far this year? 

Great Awakening

Leeland has a song entitled "Great Awakening".  It speaks of the ripple effect that can happen when one person of faith tells another and then that person tells another and so on and so on.  You get the picture.  Ever wonder how this all starts?


With one.  It started with a touch.  In reading the adventures of Jesus and his disciples, they encountered many who needed him to heal, or fix or feed.  I love to read the life accounts as he went about his Father's business taking care of everyone he met in a way that only he could.  Jesus saw their needs and gave them more than what they asked for.  Most times he touched them.


Jesus wasn't overwhelmed with the numbers of the crowds or the magnitude of the problems.  He didn't shy away from the crazy or the irrational.  He simply just talked to them, or touched them, or prayed over them.  He was the Perfect Healer, but also willing to meet them where they were at and change them.


Once you have encountered Jesus in a real way you can't help but be changed.  Having been touched by His  mercy and grace, it starts a great awakening and awareness in your soul.  And you will want to tell what He has done.  

   Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."


Jesus lead by example to make a difference in the lives of those he met.  He saved.  He touched.  He took time, he made an effort, He impacted.  He shined the Light of his Father.  His Easter Sunday awakening stirred souls.  Let His great awakening ripple in our lives.  

No Words...Except these.